Art Pick of the Year: Hearsay at Begovich

You read that right. Hearsay: Artists Reveal Urban Legends at Begovich Gallery is my art pick of the YEAR! This is the first time I've made such a sweeping declaration, but this exhibition (curated by Lauren Haisch and Wendy Sherman) has been years in the making. I first met Wendy around July of 2012. She was working on it even then. You're unlikely to see a more meticulously curated art exhibit all year.

As the title suggests, it is a visual examination of oft-told campfire stories, tall tales, and sinister folklore. What do our darkest fears look like? What is lurking under the bed? What happens when you let three dozen artists tackle those myths that keep them up at night? Well, pretty arresting visual phantasms are bound to happen. Especially when the group of artists are as top-shelf as the ones assembled here. Among the roughly 35 artists featured, you'll find Llyn Foulkes, Robert Williams, Matjames Metson, Nicola Verlato, Mike Cockrill, Christopher Ulrich, and Ransom & Mitchell. The urban legends run the gamut from perennial favorites like Bigfoot and cryo-Disney to cautionary tales like the micro-waved poodle, and razor-blade apples. There's the purple squirrel, and the babysitter/clown standoff. Some are personal hauntings, while others are barely whispered memories that continue to permeate our collective subconscious. There's a lot to chew on here, and it's not for the timid or the faint of heart. Hearsay, much like the stories it explores, will have people talking for a while.

I've been waiting for this one a long time. I reached out to Wendy yesterday to find out just how long.

Exactly how long have you been working on this show?

Three years! We originally were hoping for an opening date of October 2013, so it could be a Halloween show, but the date was already reserved in the gallery. Then we were scheduled to open in January of 2014 at Grand Central Art Center, but the gallery director at the Begovich wanted to produce the exhibition on campus. He though we would have more flexibility to design the exhibition how we wanted it to look.  He also wanted to give us more time to work on the catalog and hopefully have the book release coincide with the opening – which is what I had planned! In a perfect world! The catalog should be released this Fall (September 2014).

 Is this your master thesis?

Yes. I graduate with an MFA in Exhibition Design / Museum Studies in May.

 Did the artists pick their own legends or did you assign?

We wanted the artists to choose their own legends because we wanted them to create a work that meant something to them. Since we were also asking them for a statement about their artwork. We felt it was important to the concept of the exhibition that the artists be personally invested in their work, so they weren’t just cranking out an illustration assignment that we were handing over to them.

If you go to only one art exhibit this year, this is the one.

Hearsay: Contemporary Artists Reveal Urban Legends 
March 29 through May 8, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 12, 2014, 5 – 8 pm

Begovich Gallery, Cal State Fullerton
800 North State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92831

The Haunting of the Haunted Painting by Nicola Verlato

Keep Your Hands Inside The Car... by Robert Williams

Finding a Bigfoot Dropping by Clayton Bailey

Portrait of Walt by Llyn Foulkes

The Purple Squirrel by Sarina Brewer

Witch Tree by Mark Gleason

What The Tree Remembers by Laurie Hassold

The Procession by Marnie Weber

Red Mask by Hellen Jo

photos courtesy of Wendy Sherman

Art Pick of the Week: Of History And Hope

Nicole Bruckman is a friend to the wild and furry creatures. It's very rare to come across one of her paintings that doesn't feature a lovingly rendered animal somewhere within it. I've recently become acquainted with one of her favorite models, an achingly sweet and adorable pit bull named Atticus.  Both Nicole and Atticus wiil be at Flower Pepper Gallery tonight to open Of History And Hope. This show was curated by Nicole, and features over fifty artists who have created specific works honoring extinct, endangered and exotic animals. Describing the exhibit, Nicole says:

"All of the works that exist within this exhibition are created to inspire us to recognize and respect the value in all living beings and in hopes that the human race may become more conscious and considerate of the bond between ourselves and the animal kingdom. Each artist participating in this exhibition has been carefully selected, so that once woven together, the gallery will be transformed into an incredibly fantastic painted menagerie."

There's another reason you should see this show, too, it's the right thing to do. 10% of the proceeds from the show will be donated to Lions, Tigers & Bears: A Large Cat & Exotic Animal Rescue located in San Diego County. They work to provide safe haven for the exotic animals they rescue, as well as to educate the public about the growing population of abandoned and unwanted exotic animals and where they come from.

Even if you're unable to make it to show in person, you can still help the critters by purchasing work from the show online. contact@flower-pepper.com


 Of History And Hope
opens today (April 5th) with a reception from 6:30 -9:30
The show runs through May 2nd, 2014

Flower Pepper Gallery
121 East Union Street
Pasadena, CA 91103
Tel: 626.795.1895

Affirmation by Jaclyn Alderete

Deep Sea Divers by Leila Ataya

Bear Bear by Kisung Koh

Night Blooming by Kisung Koh

Companion by Mariam Keurjikian

Caucus Race by Simon Kangiser

Tiger Eyes by Tiffany Liu

Tooth and Nail by Craww

5 Questions with OM BLEICHER

Om Bleicher hails from Australia. He came out to California to visit family about nine years ago, and was taken with what he calls 'the wild west art scene' in Los Angeles. This led him to open bG Gallery in Santa Monica. Om is an interesting cat to say the least. He's a soft spoken gent, but in the short time I've known him, I've overheard him debating the relative merits of self-importance, and seen him strike up a spur of the moment chat about quantum physics.

Om has just opened a second gallery at Bergamot Station. The first show at the new space, Spectrum Gestalt (co-curated with Daniel Rolnik), is a sprawling group show hung salon style and grouped by color. Hanging the work this way ends up having a unifying effect on the art. Nothing is clashing, or at odds with one another. It's fascinating, and strangely soothing.

The second of his 'Spectacle' shows Art of the Spectacular opens this Saturday. I caught up with Om yesterday to throw 5 Questions at him.

1) It’s hard enough to run one gallery successfully. What possessed you to open a second?

Well, I just saw the space and it seemed pretty cool. I don’t know, I just have ideas and I want to make them happen.

2) Is Spectrum Gestalt an exercise in color theory? What prompted the idea?

I’m an artist as well as a gallerist. I have a few installations that use gestalt ideas. It’s a way to bring all the artists that I’ve worked with in the past together and introduce them to a new audience.

3) What kind art are you looking to show here?

I’m not afraid to show art that crosses genres. For instance, I’m not going to NOT show an artwork from the illustration world next a conceptual artwork. I’m looking for art that taps into the human condition, across fields.

4) What do you consider the most nauseating trend in art?

Hmmm, Damien Hirst dots? I think I’m sick of seeing, just people not taking risks, and gallerists second guessing their audience. Trends just come and go, you know?

5) Has a work of art ever made you cry?

Brought tears to my eyes? Yeah. There’s a piece by Courtney Reid, whose one of my artists, about three years ago. It’s called “Bald People” or something like that. Just the way that she paints---like, there’s no eyes in her paintings. So, it allows you to connect with it on a visceral level.

"Art Of The Spectacular" opens March 25 

bG Gallery at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue
Space G8A
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Stunning cross-stitch by Ellen Schinderman

Stu Rappeport stacked.

"A Freedom To Be Free" by Daniel Rolnik

"Untitled" by Mary Delioussina

"Blank" by Douglas Alvarez

"Scooter" by Hadia Finley

"Bob Floated To Tiffany's" by Nancy Larrew

All Tomorrow's Parties

So you're stuck in Los Angeles on a Saturday night, and there's absolutely nothing for an intellectual such as yourself to do. Well, that's just horseshit! On the off chance that I haven't promoted Matjames Metson enough, let me remind you that his second solo show at Coagula Curatorial, 'A Better Home For A Quiet Wolf' has it's grand unveiling at 7pm tomorrow.

But before that, you can hear Coagula's diabolical mastermind Mat Gleason exhort upon 'The Future of Art' at a panel discussion alongside Marlene Picard, and Jim Daichendt. The discussion will be moderated by Daniel Rolnik at Flower Pepper Gallery at 1pm. While you're there, check out the 'Season Of Spring' show. It's pretty cool.

Also, if you're ambitious and feel like gallery hopping, 'Face It', a jam packed, all-star group show opens tomorrow night at Gabba Gallery! I could passively/aggressively whine about how I would have been perfect for 'Face It', but since I'm in the above mentioned 'Season of Spring' show, and both my pieces have sold, I'll exercise a modicum of restraint. Hey! Rolnik has work in 'Face It' too, so you have three events tomorrow that are all somewhat connected. I'll give a KrossD print to the first person to tie them all to Kevin Bacon.

Coagula Curatorial
974 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, California 90012


Flower Pepper Gallery
121 East Union Street
Pasadena, CA 91103

The Gabba Gallery
3126 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90057

Art Picks of the Month - March 2014

"March comes in like a lion..."

Every so often the art gods smile down on Los Angeles and give us a cornucopia of fine art to behold. Such is the case this March. You have a plethora of choices, so let me help narrow them down for you. Some of my favorite artists drawing breath are showing work in L.A. this month. Grab you're calendar and a pen (not a pencil). Here's what you need to see:

March 1st:

Daniel Rolnik curated "The Season of Spring" for Flower Pepper in Pasadena. The exhibit faetures something like 138 artists from around the globe, including JAW Cooper, Liz McGrath, Anthony Ausgang, Alex Schaefer, and Ryan McIntosh. This show isn't fucking around! The prices will range from free (yeah) to around $200. Why would you miss this?

In the interest of full disclosure, yes, I am in the show too. But I'd be recommending it regardless. You can click here for a little interview I did for the show.

Opening reception: March 1st, 6 pm. It's cash and carry so get there early.

Flower Pepper Gallery
121 East Union Street
Pasadena, CA 91103
Tel: 626.795.1895


March 8th:

"Drawings by Lowell Darling" at Future Studio Gallery.

It's Lowell Darling. Just trust me.

Opening reception: March 8th, 7 pm

Future Studio Gallery
5558 N. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90042
(323) 254-4565


March 15th:

"A Better Home for a Quiet Wolf" - Matjames Metson at Coagula Curatorial.

Look, nobody is doing what Matjames is doing, NOBODY. You're gonna hear more from me (and him) about that soon. In the meantime, you can read the first thing I ever wrote about the guy by clicking here.
I've seen some of the new work in progress, and really, it's upper tier.

Opening reception: March 15th, 7 pm.

Coagula Curatorial
974 Chung King Road, Los Angeles CA 90012
(424) 226-2485


March 29th:

"Sinful Saints & Saintly Sinners at the Margins of the Americas" at The Fowler Museum.

In case "A Quiet Wolf" doesn't satiate your appetite, Matjames is in this show too.

Opening Reception: March 29th, 6 pm.
RSVP by March 7, 2014
(310) 206-7001 or fowlerRSVP@arts.ucla.edu

The Fowler Museum is located in the heart of UCLA's north campus.

5 Questions with ANTHONY AUSGANG

To paraphrase the worst Clash album ever, let's cut the crap! There's about zero chance that you're reading THIS blog without knowing who the hell Anthony Ausgang is. Unless you're my mother, in which case, Hi Mom! But really, do you need me to remind you of Anthony Ausgang's secure seat at the pop surrealist table? I can safely assume you're familiar with 'Dude Descending A Staircase', right? If you're an artist who does your homework, you already own the seminal Kirsten Anderson book on the lowbrow movement. Hell, you can probably quote the Robert Williams essay in that book verbatim. Maybe you're here because you're a MGMT fan, and you're hoping to dig up some dirt on the band (sorry, we didn't really go there). Maybe you're a fan of weird abstract literature looking for clues to deciphering the  "Pawnee Republican" and "Sleep of Puss Titter" (I can't help you there either). I arranged a meeting with him, to ask only 5 questions. But if I'm completely honest, I just really wanted to see his studio, and get to know the man a little better. I wasn't disappointed. Ausgang possesses a keen intellect, a  witty, jovial veneer, and his studio (as you'll see below) is brimming with archival delights from every stage of his artistic development. Let's go!


1) What was the most revelatory art experience you've ever had?

Well, really it was when I was sixteen, I went to Bali, Indonesia with my family. We stayed there three months. You know, my experience with art up to that point was strictly in museums, art museums around the world. So, I hadn't really had an experience looking at art outside of a museum situation, and when I was in Bali I saw all kinds of art that was being made...for example, there was a tree that had been carved by the side of the road, just this phenomenal sculpture. It was really interesting to see how art was integrated into everyday life there. When I saw that, it made a lot of sense to me. It clicked, right there...about what art is, and the purpose of art, and how it can actually exist outside the laboratory of the museums.

2) You've paid homage to a number of artists in your work, perhaps most famously Duchamp. You've also had some harsh words for John Baldassari. Who do you consider the most historically underrated and most overrated artists?

(laughs) Wow! Yeah, actually I have shifting tastes. My fandom of certain artists comes and goes, but when I was younger I was really impressed by Franz Marc. He had this tragic story, where he was killed in World War I, before he really managed to get any super masterworks done. I find his work really inspiring, because he did some really great paintings of animals, that sort of caught the essence of what it is to be a non-human, sentient being. There's also a Dutchman, colonial cat, living in Indonesia. His name is Walter Spies. He combined, sort of European painting technique with Eastern perspective. So he did these really beautiful paintings, where they seemed to be flat, but they still had that kind of Japanese perspective. Where they don't really decrease in size, things are just kind of stacked on top of each other? He's almost completely unknown outside of Dutch colonial circles. Overrated? Yeah man, Baldessari. I'm against the dude a hundred fucking percent! I don't have anything personally...you know, this is not a personal attack. But I guess in the art world, if you attack somebodies work, you're attacking them personally. I don't necessarily feel that way. But yeah, I think he's overrated. Art should be an additive process, and when it becomes a subtractive process like that...I think it's bullshit. Unless you're sculpting, taking a block of stone, and subtracting the sum until the figure is there. But with painting, where you actually remove imagery, to me is counter intuitive.

3) I asked Isabel Samaras this question once, and got a rather enthusiastic response. What's the most beloved brush in your arsenal?

I use a fan brush, which are for blending...from one color to another, or one value to another. those are my favorites now...because I've seen people use them...like Ron English can use these, and he can actually stop in a perfect spot, whereas I still have to tape it off, it's almost like airbrushing. So, yeah, I love those right now, because I still haven't figured their mystery out. I'm still sort of intrigued by how to use these brushes. Probably my least favorite brush is the pin striping brush. I did pin striping, I use a line brush. You know...actually, my favorite brush is what most artists would consider their worst brush. I use these brushes, and so they get to the point where they're just shit...and most people would just use them to mix paint, or just use them as a stir stick, but at that point...say it's a round, and the bristles are all splayed out. Somehow I figured out how to use those brushes to blend, so they are like a fan brush, but it's a round. Most people would've thrown those brushes away years ago.

4) If you could create the artwork for any Link Wray song, what song would you like to do?

Well, it would be "Rumble" wouldn't it? Link Wray...here's this dude who got shit on. They called his music dangerous. "Rumble" was taken off the charts, right? It was banned...and the dude still kept fucking going...and to me that's one of the most important things about art, is you gotta be in it for the long haul. Sure, I was the hot new flavor at one time, and I've seen other kids now, they're the hot new flavor, and yeah, that's great, but it's longevity and commitment that I think are one of the most attractive qualities for artists...assuming that they do good work, 'cause you know, Baldessari's been around for a while too.

5) I read you were shot at...twice! What the fuck?

I was walking down the street in Austin, Texas around 1978. Austin was entirely different at that point. I walked by this movie theater, and this black dude was...at that moment he was getting kicked out of the theater for drinking. I thought, 'oh, that's fucking weird'. So, I stood around to watch. The ushers got this dude out in the street, and he kicked him in the ass. Then this guy just turned around with his gun, and shot the usher three times in the stomach. Everybody scattered. Everybody split---except me. So, I'm standing there like...'Wow!' Then the guy pointed the gun at me. The instant he pulled the trigger a little alarm went off that said 'Hit the ground dude!'. So, I hit the ground...and split. He went one way, and I went the other. I ran down this alley, and he suddenly changed his mind. He came back and he was running down the alley behind me, and I thought 'This is fucking it man.' So I just stopped, and I got on the ground. The guy ran by me. He was really stupid. He was wearing a white Panama hat, white suit, you know? He couldn't blend in anywhere. I went back the next day and saw that there was a bullet hole in the glass. Another time, I actually did get shot, but it was self-inflicted. It was really stupid. It was the day of the L.A. riots. I learned my lesson. You never have two people handling a loaded gun (laughs), at the same time. But some things you can be told, and other things you have to learn by experience.



Anthony Ausgang will be included in the Daniel Rolnik curated 'Season of Spring' group show
at Flower Pepper Gallery opening March 1st, 2014.
He's also busy curating a Kustom Kulture show in Milan this September, and working on a new novel.

Ausgang in the studio.

A work in progress.

The Ausgang brush corner.

The 'why would you throw it away' brush.

Ammunition.

A life in sketchbooks.

From the Ausgang sketchbook files.

I'm really hoping I posted this right side up.

Vintage Ausgang!

A Raymond Pettibon palm frond!

Another Raymond Pettibon from the Ausgang collection!

The Ausgang album cover files.

Ausgang-edlia.

Thrift store score #1.

Thrift store score #2.

Old Skool Ausgang Xerox manipulations.

The end? Spoiler alert: it didn't.